[HPforGrownups] Childhood values v Adulthood values in Potterverse WAS: Re: Power vs. Trust

[Magpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 143166

Sydney:

> The danger was when he LEFT the Shrieking Shack under the dubious
> stewardship of the Marauders.  In PoA, Lupin states pretty clearly
> that they were 'close calls, many of them' when he nearly attacked
> somebody when they were running around, and that he shudders to think
> now what could have happened.  Dagnabit... someone must have the
> quotage, but he certainly says that they were reckless and heedless of
> the danger to other people.  I'd equate it with drunk driving.


Magpie:

Heh. You wrote this as I was frantically searching for the quote:

"That was still really dangerous! Running around in the dark with a 
werewolf! What if you'd given the others the slip, and bitten somebody?"

"A thought that still haunts me," said Lupin heavily. "And there were near 
misses, many of them. We laughed about them afterwards. We were
young, thoughtless -- carried away with our own cleverness."

I sometimes felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust, of course...he 
had admitted me to Hogwarts when no other headmaster would have done
so, and he had no idea I was breaking the rules he had set down for my own 
and others' safety. He never knew I had led three fellow students into 
becoming Animagi illegally. But I always managed to forget my
guilty feelings every time we sat down to plan our next month's adventure. 
And I haven't changed..."

To me it seems like Lupin, here, is pretty much giving a testament to adult 
wisdom.  As a kid he could forget his guilty feelings in favor of adventure. 
As an adult he's at least more honest about his motives and can see himself 
in the wrong.

Sherry:

i don't believe for a minute that there was any
thought of the villagers, good or bad.  They were doing something fun, and 
something that was helping their friend.  few kids would have thought out
the consequences.  Too many people expect the marauders to have been 
thinking with the maturity of adults, and that just isn't the way it is. 
they were just kids, reckless, brave and caring for their friend, but also 
irresponsible and unthinking.  Well, so was I around their age, and so were 
many reserved responsible adults I know today.  It doesn't seem really fair 
to judge them with adult sensibilities.

Magpie:

Lupin has admitted here that they did think about the villagers, at least to 
laugh at their near-misses.  But I think the point being made is that they 
are not being judged with adult sensibilities.  They're being judged as kids 
to show what you're saying here, that we don't start out superior and lose 
understanding.  In fact, I'd say Lupin is considered more mature than Snape 
or Sirius because they held onto their kids' perspective more than he did.

Pippin:

They didn't arrest Draco and clap him in irons, no. Dumbledore says it's 
because he didn't want Draco or his mother to be killed. He's says he's been 
aware of what Draco has been doing all year. He says he was
certain that Draco was behind the attacks.  Don't you believe him?

Magpie:

I'd say Draco is a great example of Dumbledore having far greater 
understanding of things.  He not only knows what's going on with him but 
understands more what's going on with him inside.  Dumbledore has often 
explained other characters' actions.  He sometimes makes mistakes about what 
people will do, but it seems like he's rarely surprised by what they do 
after the fact.

The thing about growing up, imo, is that the trouble with the adults is that 
they've made their mistakes.  The kids are all in a better position because 
their lives are still before them.  If we were reading about MWPP's 
generation I'm sure they too would have seemed like the hope for the future 
with higher ideals.  Life is often about compromise.  What kids or teenagers 
see as selling out is sometimes a sign of greater understanding.

-m